Vortigern (350-441) was King of Powys from 351 to 430, preceding Vortimer. He was a cruel ruler who murdered the Western Roman co-emperor Constans II, invited the Jutes to settle in Kent to help fight against the Saxons (inadvertently helping the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain), and was ultimately murdered by Constans' brother Ambrosius Aurelianus.
Biography[]
Vortigern was born in 350 AD, the son of King Gwydolin of Hwicce. He became the first King of Powys in 351 AD when his father partitioned his kingdom between his sons, with his brother Gwydol Vitalis receiving Hwicce and the infant Vortigern receiving Powys. Vortigern married Severa ferch Macsen, a daughter of the Roman emperor Magnus Maximus, and she bore him four sons: Vortimer, Pascent, Catigern, and Faustus. During the 400s, Vortigern used the Western Roman usurper Constans II as a puppet monarch over Roman Britain before having him killed by insurgent Picts. Vortigern soon faced invasions from the Germanic Saxons, so he allied with the Jutish brothers Hengest and Horsa and gave them lands in Kent in exchange for their support against the Saxons. However, the brothers betrayed him after Vortigern married their sister Rowena, and Vortigern's son Vortimer fought four battles against the invaders before being killed in battle. In 440, he fought against the Saxons alongside Constans' brother Ambrosius Aurelianus at the Battle of Guoloph, but, a year later, Ambrosius avenged his brother's death by burning Vortigern to death at his castle.
Warlord Chronicles[]
Vortigern in 456
According to Derfel Cadarn's Warlord Chronicles, Vortigern was born on 11 November 382 and died in 456 at the age of 74. Vortigern became the first High King of Britannia in 425, ceding power to his son Vortimer in 441. However, Vortimer was slain in battle in 450, so Vortigern returned to the throne and was slain by Ambrosius Aurelianus in 456.